Commercial trucks preserve enormous amounts of electronic information before, during, and after a collision. Speed, throttle position, brake application, engine performance, cruise control status, and numerous other vehicle functions may be recorded by the truck’s electronic control module (ECM), commonly referred to as the “black box.” Despite its name, black box data rarely determines a […]
When a commercial truck fails to stop before a collision, one of the first questions asked is often: why didn’t the truck driver brake? In litigation, however, no question is that simple when a catastrophic injury is involved. A truck’s inability to stop may result from driver error, mechanical error, or a combination of both. […]
Truck drivers often travel long distances over a course of several hours, resulting in fatigue. As such, driver fatigue is a significant safety concern. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulates how long commercial truck drivers may remain behind the wheel before taking a mandatory break—known as Hours-of-Service (HOS)—which is found in 49 C.F.R. […]
Many truck accidents begin with the driver. A collision occurs, investigators examine the accident, including the driver’s conduct, and then litigation turns to the decisions made leading up to the impact. In some cases, however, a different theory is pursued. Rather than treating the crash as the product of an individual mistake, the plaintiff may […]
Once a truck accident occurs, investigators immediately begin examining trucking data to determine whether the company complied with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). Driver qualification files are requested. Hours-of-service logs are scrutinized. Yet, that is only the beginning of the analysis. A trucking company may accrue a number of FMCSA violations without causing […]